All right, good morning, church family once again, as you guys
find your seat, if you would open your Bibles or type in your
devices, the Book of Numbers, chapter 26.
And this morning we're going to be in the entire chapter, all 65
verses. And the reason for that is that
the sermon this morning, the text this morning is on a
census. And a lot of the text, we'll
just be counting numbers and so forth.
And so that we're going to be doing the entire chapter this
morning #26 the title of the sermon this morning is this.
Despite past sin, God provides a new dawn.
And so normally I read the text upfront, but given that the fact
that it's so long, I will not be reading it upfront.
I'll be reading it throughout the exposition application
portion. I won't be reading all of it
because again, a lot of it is just names and numbers, but I'll
be reading portions of it. So let me open this in a word of
prayer and then we'll jump into the text this morning.
Let's pray, Father, as we come to another census in the Book of
Numbers, as even as we looked at the first one in chapter 1 and
now a second one in numbers 26. Lord, we pray that you would
help us to draw application, help us to draw life meaning
from this text, a text at first glance that may seem like it
really has nothing to do with our life.
And what are we supposed to do with this entire chapter other
than just read it and move on? But God, we, we pray that you
would help us to, to not just move on this morning, but to
actually plant our feet here in your word in this chapter and to
ask ourselves, God, what do you want to teach us this morning?
What, what do you want me to see in this text?
What do you want me to feel? What do you want me to do?
What do you want me to know and remember?
And so, Lord, I pray that you would come and do this work this
morning by the power of the Holy Spirit, by the blood of Jesus
Christ and his name, I pray, Amen.
The nation of Israel in many ways is the prodigal son.
If you've ever read the story of the parable of the prodigal son,
the nation of Israel is in many ways the prodigal son.
They have a father who loves them, who cares for them, who
provides for them. And yet, like the prodigal son,
they want to do their own thing. They want to go their own way.
They don't want to be with their father.
They want to experience life. And I was thinking about this in
light of this chapter, of how easy it would have been for the
prodigal son when he was off and so-called Babylon.
How easy it would, and he lost everything.
How easy it would have been for him to stay in the pig pen.
If you remember the story that after he had spent all of his
father's money, he had to kind of sell himself out to a farm
and he is feeding the pigs and, and he longed to eat the food
that the pigs were eating. How easy it would have been for
him to just stay there, to assume this is my fate, this is
my lot. I've made my bed and now I need
to lie in it. But by God's grace, he comes
home. He comes home to his father, and
his Father teaches him, his Son, the same lesson that God teaches
Israel. And it is this.
Despite past sin, God provides a new dawn.
We are not doomed to continue walking in the darkness of night
because God's mercies are new. Every morning.
Despite past sin, God provides a new dawn.
That's what the sermon is about this morning.
As I mentioned earlier, I normally read the text up front,
but I won't be doing that. I'll be reading sections.
I'm going to be and and and often I sometimes will give
exposition and application at the end Tis when I'm going to be
weaving them together. Do the nature of the the text
this morning. So we're going to we're going to
start reading verses 1 to 4, but I won't be reading as I
mentioned every section, but I will give you the material as we
go through it. So let's start with our text
Numbers 26, beginning in verses 1 to 4.
After the plague, the Lord said to Moses and Eliezer the son of
Aaron the priest, take a census of all the congregation of the
people of Israel from 20 years old and upward by their father's
houses, all in Israel who are able to go to war.
And Moses and Eliezer the priest spoke with them in the plains of
Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, take a census of the
people from 20 years old and upward, as the Lord commanded
Moses, the people of Israel who came up out of the land of Egypt
were and stops right there. We'll stop right there.
So last week we saw that God had sent a plague upon his people
because of their immorality and their idolatry.
And as a result of this plague, 24,000 of the Israelites died.
After the plague ends, the very next thing that we're told that
they are to do, whether I mean, maybe some time had passed, but
I mean, there's a hard shift here.
A plague is sent, 24,000 die, and the Lord says the next thing
I want you to do, take a census. It's just kind of comes out of
left field here. Now, they had already taken a
census in chapter 1. But remember, chapter 1 is 40
years ago, where we're at right now.
Remember when Aaron dies, Aaron dies at like year 38.
Around that mark. Aaron has died not too long ago.
So it's almost all 40 years is up.
So they took a census 40 years ago and now 40 years later, God
wants them to take another census.
And God commands them to to count all of those who are 20
years and older. And, and, and, and.
There are two reasons for this. Number one, at the end of
chapter 25, if you remember last week, God told them to go to war
with Midian. Remember the Midianites had
deceived them and had LED them into immorality and idolatry.
And so God said to harass them and literally go to war with
them. Well, when you're going to war,
you need to know what your numbers are.
And so God says, I want you to know how many men are able to go
to war. That's the first reason.
The second reason is that later in the chapter we're going to
see that about to enter the promised land, right?
40 years is up now the time is to enter the promised land.
But when they conquer the land, they need to know who's going to
get which parcel of land. And so in order to know who's
going to get what parcel of land, they got to know what the
numbers are. And so God wants them to count
all the tribes so they know what the size is because size is
going to determine who gets what portion of land.
So that's the reason for these, for this census.
And light of those two reasons, God says take this census.
It appears that God wants them to know where they stand.
Where are we 40 years later? It is good from time to time to
take spiritual inventory. It's good from time to time to
take spiritual inventory. If you are running a business,
inventory failures can harm your business.
It can even kill your business. It's I, I, I watch the TV show
Shark Tank. Some of you may have seen that
show. One of the biggest mistakes that
these entrepreneurs make is over ordering their inventory.
The sharks will ask them how much inventory do you have?
Like $1,000,000 worth. They never get a deal, right?
Inventory failures can harm your business or kill your business.
In 2001, Nike lost an estimated $100 million in sales.
Solid stock price dropped by 20%.
Do you know why? Inventory mismanagement.
In 2022, Walmart's warehouses were overflowing with inventory.
Remember, everybody was under did not have enough inventory
during the pandemic. So what did Walmart do?
They're like, we don't want this to happen again.
So they ordered. They ordered too much.
They were overflowing with inventory.
So what did they have to do? They had to offer deep discounts
to all this inventory they had, hurting their profits.
Inventory mismanagement can harm or even kill a business, and
this can even be true for us on a spiritual level.
It is good to stop and consider from time to time.
How often did we have family worship this past week?
From last Sunday to today, how often did we have family
worship? How often did we have family
worship this past month? How often did we have it this
past year? How often did I go to church in
the past year? How much have I given in the
past year? How often did I read my Bible or
pray or share the gospel? Now I want to be very clear, we
never want numbers to be the deciding factor and how we are
doing spiritually. Hear me when I say that numbers
are never the deciding factor and how are you doing
spiritually? Numbers can be very deceiving,
but it is good from time to time to take spiritual inventory.
How else do we know how we're doing?
This census is a means for Israel to know how are we doing?
It's been 40 years, where are we?
How are we doing? From time to time we need to
take spiritual inventory. To know where do I stand, look
at verses 5 to 11. Reuben, the first born of
Israel, the sons of Reuben of Hanoch, the clan of the
Hanochites of Palu, the clan of the Apolloites of Hezron, the
clan of the Hezronites of Carmi, the clan of the Carmites.
These are the clans of the Reubenites, and those listed
were 43,730 the sons of Apollo, Iliab, the sons of Iliab,
Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram
chosen from the congregation who contended against Moses and
Aaron and the company of Kora when they contended against the
Lord. And the earth opened its mouth
and swallowed them up together with Kora when that company
died, when the fire devoured 250 men and they became a warning.
But the sons of Cora did not die.
So the census starts with Reuben.
Why Reuben? Reuben is the first born of
Jacob. So it starts with with Reuben.
The numbers of Reuben are 43,730.
Now, if you have a bulletin, I put an image on the front of
your bulletin so you can look along with me.
If you like 43,730, that is a 6% decrease from chapter 1.
It's a 6% decrease in chapter 1. Now, what's interesting is that
the narrator takes the time to highlight Dathan and a Byram
right in the middle of the census.
Out of everything he could list, he'd see he wants to highlight
date them in a Byram. And if you remember the story,
we went to this not too long ago, and #16 Korra had LED a
rebellion against Moses. Dathan and a Byram joined in
this rebellion. So did 250 men join his
rebellion. They came to Moses, and they
said to Moses, you have gone too far, Moses.
Everyone in the congregation is holy to the Lord.
Why do you exalt yourself above the assembly of the Lord?
And Moses says, very well, I propose a challenge to you.
Tomorrow morning you offer your incense, I will offer my
incense, and we shall see who is holy to the Lord.
So the next day, they take their sensors, they put fire in them,
they lay incense on them. And what happens?
The ground opens its mouth and swallows these men and all the
men around them. And then fire from the Lord
comes out and consumes the 250 men who are part of the
rebellion. And here's what I want you to
notice. If it did not say this in #16
But the narrator gives us an additional piece of information.
Look at verse 10. When the Earth's opened its
mouth and swallowed them, when the fire came out, what
happened? They became a warning.
A warning. Their death was a warning to all
of Israel, a warning church family.
Every trial, every tragedy, every tribulation is a warning
from God. Every trial, every tragedy,
every tribulation is a warning from God.
What I find interesting about this census in the whole chapter
is that for the most part, the only stories that are
interspersed in this census, I mean, it's not just, it's not
just a census. There are stories interspersed
in the chapter, and all the stories that are interspersed in
the chapter are all stories of tragedy.
Nadab and Abihu ER and Onan kora Dathem and Abiram, the
Israelites as a whole. It's as if God wants them to
remember. I gave you warnings.
I wonder how many lost people on the day of judgment?
When we die and all of us stand before the day of judgment, I
wonder how many lost people will say to the Lord on the day of
judgment? Why didn't you warn me?
If heaven is real and hell is real and I'm going to hell, why
didn't you warn me? And I think God will say to
them, I did, I did. The narrator is telling us that
the earth opening its mouth and swallowing these men, fire
coming out and consuming these men was a warning.
God is always warning us. Every tornado, hurricane,
earthquake, tsunami, volcano, wildfire, flood, drought,
landslide, every heart disease, every cancer, stroke,
Alzheimer's, diabetes, all of it is a warning from God.
All of it. The question is, do we heed His
warning? The narrator tells us in verse
11 that the sons of Kora did not die.
That's interesting that he takes the time to tell us that because
Kora died and all the men around him died.
But the narrator tells us that the sons of Kora did not die.
Why is it interesting? Because we actually have some of
the most impactful and some of the most beautiful psalms from
the sons of Kora. Psalms 42 to 49, Psalms 84 to
85, Psalms 87 to 88 are all written by the sons or
descendants of Kora. In just a minute, I'm going to
mention that our sin may affect generations to come.
But here is the good news before I say that our parents sin, our
grandparents sin need not be a self fulfilling prophecy for us.
We all are aware of our parents sin, our grandparents sin.
It need not be a self fulfilling prophecy for us.
Because Core LED a rebellion. The earth swallowed him and the
men that were with him. But here's what happened.
His lineage continued and it continued in glory. 12 of the
150 Psalms that are recorded in Scripture were written by his
descendants. With each new generation, God
offers a new dawn. Think about King Ahaz, who was
wicked, engaged in idolatry, but his son Hezekiah did what was
right in the eyes of the Lord. Think about King Amon, who is a
wicked king also engaged in idolatry, but his son Josiah did
not walk in his father's footsteps.
Or what about King Saul who repeatedly disobeyed the Lord,
but his son Jonathan? That was not his story.
There is some validity. You might even argue a lot, but
I'll just say a some There is some validity to the idea that
proclivities to sin may be passed down from generation to
generation. Now, whether that is nature,
whether that is nurture I that you you can debate that all day.
But there is some validity that proclivities to sin may be
passed down from generation to generation.
But hear me when I say this That doesn't have to be our story.
Whatever proclivities you inherited from your family does
not have to be prophecy. Proclivities are not prophecy.
Look at verse 12 to 14, The sons of Simeon.
According to the clans of Nemuel the Well, we have to reach 1214.
The next tribe is the Simeonites.
Here's what I'll mention about the Simeon Heights.
Their number is 20. Here's what I want to point out.
Their number is 22,200. Now, why is that significant?
If you look, that is a 63% decrease from chapter one.
That's a lot. 63% decrease. Simeon went from being the third
largest tribe to the smallest tribe.
Third largest to the smallest. What happened to the Simeon
Heights? I don't know, but some scholars
speculate this Zimri. Remember Zimri?
He was our man last week. He is the man who brought a
Midianite woman to his tent, to his family.
You remember what tribe Zimri was from?
He was a Simeonite. Some scholars speculate that it
may be that a large majority of those who died by the plague,
the 24,000 or more, were Simeonites.
That this accounts for why there's such a huge decrease in
population of the Senate. That is speculation, but it is a
plausible theory. Now if that is true, which
again, hear me want to say this, that's speculation.
Hear me want to say this. If it's true though, it teaches
us this. Our sin may affect generations
to come. Simeon is going to get the
smallest allotment of land. They were going to get the third
largest. Now they get the smallest
portion of land. The choices we make today may or
probably will affect generations to come.
I don't mean that even just simply individually, I mean that
even corporately. I was thinking about the
difficulty of raising children this generation.
It's difficult, right? We, we face, it's always been
difficult. I want to be clear.
I mean, it's not like raising kids was never easy.
It was never easy. It's always been difficult.
But there are different challenges and, and, and maybe
even more difficult challenges, perhaps, I don't know, it's
debatable. But things like how are we going
to navigate AI? I mean, I know you guys love AI,
you know, but listen, AI is going to present unbelievable
challenges and problems. It it's it's it, it already has
and it's only the tip of the iceberg of the problems that are
going to exist with AI. Anybody who is spiritually
discerned knows this addiction to smartphones just go out in
public. Are we not addicted to our
smartphones? If that's true of, I mean I see
like 50 year old grown man addicted to their smartphones.
If that's true of a 50 year old, how much more is it true of a 15
year old or a 7 year old? Addiction to social media,
addiction to entertainment? Did anybody here not watch
anything at all last night on your phone?
Anybody under the age of 40 not watch a single thing last night?
I read an article the other day about a man in his 40s.
You may have seen the article. There's a man in his 40s whose
wife said that he was addicted to ChatGPT.
He said it was a spiritual awakening.
His wife said it's ruining their marriage.
He's in his 40s. It made me discouraged for the
temptations that our next generation will face.
I mean, it really did. I have four sons.
It made me discourage about the temptations.
How are we going to navigate this?
So, and it's, this is not just true for parents.
You're like, well, I'm not a parent or I don't plan to get
married or like it's true for all of us.
We're we're, we're one family. The decisions we make today may
affect generations tomorrow. Our actions matter.
They are not ultimate. Let me be clear about that.
Our actions are not ultimate. God is ultimate, but our actions
do matter. Verses 15 to 18, the next tribe
is a tribe of Gad. Their number is 40,500 that
that's an 11% decrease. Verses 9 look at look at verses
19 to 22. I'll read that the sons of Judah
were UR and Onan, and UR and Onan died in the land of Canaan.
And the sons of Judah, according to their clans, were of Sheila,
the clans of the Sheilanites of Perez, the clan of the Parasites
of Zerah, the clan of the Zerites.
The sons of Perez were Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites of
Hamu, the clan of the Homulites. These are the clans of Judah as
they were listed 76,500. So the next tribe is the tribe
of Judah. This is the tribe that Jesus
comes from. Their number 76,500.
They are the largest tribe and they are the first tribe listed
that have an increase. So far the tribes have been
decreasing. You kind of, it's kind of yeah.
Why are they decreasing? This is the first tribe that has
an They have a 3% increase. The narrator takes the time to
highlight two people, ER and Onan.
You're like, who is, uh, and Onan, he mentions they died in
the land of Canaan, doesn't say why you have to go back to
Genesis, Genesis 38, seven to 10.
Let me read that for us as so that you know what happened
there. Uh, Judah's first born was
wicked in the sight of the Lord and the Lord put him to death.
Then Judah said to Onan, his second born, Go into your
brother's wife and perform the duty of her brother-in-law to
her, and raise up offspring for your brother.
But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his.
So whenever he went into his brother's wife, he would waste
the semen on the ground so as to not give offspring to his
brother. And what he did was wicked in
the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also.
Now I can preach the whole sermon on that.
I was going to explain really fast what that what's going on
there and Leverett marriage. The way it worked back then is
if if you, your brother died and his wife did not have any kids,
you would marry her, your brother's wife, and you would do
this to give your brother lineage.
It's called Leverett marriage. It was actually a law.
It was required by God. God puts her to death because
he's wicked. Onan is supposed to fulfill his
his his obligation to give his brother children.
But he doesn't want to do this. Why?
Because he doesn't want to split up his inheritance.
He doesn't want to affect his own inheritance, so he doesn't
give her children. And this was wicked in the sight
of the Lord. That's the Lord put him to death
as well. Uh, is actually the first
individual in Scripture that the Lord puts to death.
I mean, he put like, you know, at the flood and Sodom and
Gomorrah, but individuals, uh, is the first individual in
Scripture that the Lord just directly put to death.
Onan is the second. Now why does he mention this?
Err and Onan are reminders that the wages of sin is death.
Paul says that the wages of sin is death.
Err and Onan are reminders of this.
Now here's why this is important.
Because it doesn't seem that bad, does it?
I mean, maybe err was really wicked, but what Onan did didn't
seem that bad that it really warned being put to death.
Well, think about this was what Nabal did was that Did it seem
that bad got put in the ball to death?
All the ball did was not be hospitable.
Imagine being put to death for not being hospitable.
What about Ananias the fire? Ananias the fire.
Total lie. What about Lot's wife?
I'm going to show you what Lot's wife did to be put to death.
That's it. What about Aza?
I'm going to show you what Aza did to be put to death.
Doesn't seem that bad, does it? None of these seem that bad.
And yet all of these examples are a reminder that the wages of
sin is death. We should be put to death by the
Lord. The question is not why were
these people put to death? The question is, why have we not
been put to death? We should be put to death by the
Lord. But the free gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Every day we wake up, it is grace upon grace because every
night we go to bed as sinners and every morning Jesus Christ
keeps us from being uh and onan. Look at verse 23 to 25.
It's a car is next. Their number is 64,300.
That's an 18% increase. That is our largest increase so
far. Verses 26 to 27.
The next tribe is Zebulon. Their their clan is 60,500.
That's a 5% increase. And then look at verses 28 to
34, the sons of Joseph according to their clans, Manasseh and
Ephraim, the sons of Manasseh of Mahir, the clans of Mahirites.
And Mahir was the father of Gilead of Gilead, the clan of
the Gileadites. These are the sons of Gilead, of
of Eazer the clan of the Yezerites, of Helik the clan of
the Helikites and of Asriel the clan of the Asrielites, and of
Shechem the clan of the Shechemites, and of Shemida the
clan of the Shemidites, and of Heffer the clan of the
Hefferites. Now Zelafahad the son of Heffer
had no sons but daughters, and the names of the daughters of
the Zelafahad were Mahla, Noah, Hagla, Milka and Tizra.
These are the clans of Manasseh and those listed were 52,700.
Now if you remember, Joseph was a son of Jacob, but there is no
tribe of Joseph. And the reason for this is that
his two sons are the tribes. He has two sons, Manasseh and
Ephraim, and they become tribes. The first planning list is
Manasseh. Manasseh is 52,700.
That is a 64% increase. I have no idea why they increase
so much. They some fertile women in those
that tribe. I, I, I don't know why they
increase so much. Look at what the narrator
highlights though in verse 33. In verse 33, now Zela Fahad, the
son of Heifer, had no sons but daughters, and then he lists the
names of the daughters. Why does he mention this about
Zela Fahad having no sons but daughters?
Dennis Cole writes this a commentator.
The mere mention of women is remarkable in a text designed to
calculate potential numbers of men for war.
The purpose of the census is to determine how many men are ready
to go to war. So the fact that he would even
mention this is is pretty remarkable.
So why does the narrator draw attention to these five
daughters? Because this story is going to
come into play next week in chapter 27, which we'll get to
next week. And then we get to the last five
tribes. There are no narrator comments
on these last tribes, so I'm just going to give the names and
the numbers and the percentage increase or decrease versus 35
to 37. The next clan is Ephraim 32,500.
That is a 20% decrease. That's the second largest
decrease behind the Semionites versus 38 to 41.
The next clan is Benjamin 45,600.
That's a 29% increase. It's tied for the second largest
increase versus 42 to 43. The next tribe is Dan 64,400,
just a 3% increase, but it is the second largest tribe versus
44 to 47. The next tribe is Asher 53,400,
that's a 29% increase, again tied for the second largest.
And then versus 48 to 50, the last tribe that has counted is
Naftali 45,400. That's a 15% decrease, and
that's our 11 tribes. There's one more which we'll get
to in just a second. Look at verse 51.
This was the list of the people of Israel. 601,730 I want you to
pause. Just think about that. 601,730
You guys remember what the number was in chapter 140 years
earlier? 603,550 just a .3% difference,
almost the same. Now why is that significant?
Later the narrator is going to mention he's going to make it
clear that this 601,000 are completely different people than
the previous 603,000 completely different people.
Here's why this matters. We often don't give a whole lot
of thought to genealogies or censuses, right?
I mean, I highly doubt anybody in this room, your go to passage
is a census. If I ask you like, you know,
when you're feeling really like this is a small good question
when you're feeling really discouraged, like what is your
go to passage that you read in the word?
Do any of you say censuses or genealogies?
I I highly doubt that any church has ever had a retreat theme
called census. And I'm quite sure there are no
religious best sellers out there about censuses.
But here's one thing that Numbers 26 teaches us, and it is
this God was faithful to preserve his people for 40
years. He was faithful not only 40
years, but 40 years of grumbling and disobedience.
For 40 years his people grumbled and complained and disobeyed
God. And yet 40 years later it's only
a .3% difference. God was faithful to preserve
them. I've said this before, but to
me, the greatest miracle in the book of Numbers, maybe even the
entire Old Testament, is this, that Joshua 1 exists.
Because if you read this book, I mean, we've been going through
this for months now, right? If you read this book, it's just
filled with sin after sin after sin.
The people are grumbling and complaining over and over again.
It's like a broken record, right?
We're tired of this. We hate this.
We don't like this. They're just complaining over
and over and over again. The people accused God and Moses
of trying to kill them. How many times are they accused?
You brought us here to kill us, God.
You want to kill us, Moses? You want to kill us?
They're trying to go back to Egypt.
Let's appoint a new leader. Let's go back to Egypt.
We remember the fish and the cucumbers and the melons and the
leeks. Let's go back to slavery.
They're complaining about their food.
We're tired of this manna. They're opposing their leaders.
They're doubting the Lord. They're disciplining the Lord.
They're breaking the Sabbath. They're leading rebellions.
They're committing idolatry and immorality.
And yet, despite all of this incessant sin, not only do God's
people still exist, they are almost identical in number.
At the end of the 40 years, as at the beginning, God is
faithful to preserve his people. Do you know why I'm so confident
that we will persevere to the end?
I am unbelievably confident that you and I who are in Christ will
make it to the end. Do you know why I'm so confident
of that? Because Israel still exists.
They're still here. God is faithful to persevere His
people. Look at verse 52 to 54.
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, among these the land shall be
divided for inheritance according to the number of
names. To a large tribe you shall give
a large inheritance. Into a small tribe you shall
give a small inheritance. Every tribe shall be given its
inheritance and proportion to its list.
We'll stop there. Now, part of the purpose of the
sentence, as I mentioned earlier, was to know how to
divide up the land right when they go in to conquer the land.
It's not like, you know, it's like, what is it?
What do they call it when you get front seat like shotgun?
Whoever called shotgun is that, is that even a thing here?
Is that just a S thing? I don't know.
That was one thing when I was a killer.
I call shotgun. It's like whoever gets it wasn't
like whoever just called like claimed this part of the land.
I got it first. That wasn't how it worked.
Large tribes would get a large inheritance.
Small tribes would get a small inheritance.
It was based on their size. But here's the thing, whether
you got a large inheritance or whether you got a small
inheritance, everybody got an inheritance.
Everybody what qualified them to receive an inheritance was
simply being a son of Abraham. Brothers and sisters, one day we
will all inherit the eternal promised land and everybody who
is the Son of God gets this inheritance.
There are not levels to heaven. There are not social classes.
There is no Beverly Hills of Heaven.
Yes, there will be different rewards.
Let's be clear on that. There will be different rewards
in heaven, but just that the tribes received different
inheritances. There will be different rewards
in heaven. But just as everybody gets the
promised land, so does every follower of Jesus Christ receive
the eternal promised land. We all get it.
Look at verse 55 to 56. But the land shall be divided by
lot according to the names of the tribes of their fathers.
They shall inherit. Their inheritance shall be
divided according to lot between the larger and the smaller.
So the land size is determined by the tribe size, right?
Big tribes got a big inheritance, small tribes got
small. But then the turn, then the
question is, how do you know which parcel of land goes where,
right? Like who gets to be next to the
Mediterranean Sea? Who gets to be next to the
Jericho River? Who gets to be up north in the
cooler region? Who gets to have the southern
region where it's very hot and arid, right?
How do we determine who gets what portion of land?
God says the land will be divided by lot.
What does that mean? Well, they would cast lots,
probably the Urim and, and, and Thumman, right?
There's like stones to determine who, who got what land.
We don't have time to go into all the details of that, but
it's kind of like rolling dice, right?
It's something similar like rolling dice.
And it's like, you know, if, if, if it's a six, you get this.
If it's a four, you get this. Now why would God do it this way
right? Well this was not an uncommon
way in the Old Testament to determine the will of the Lord.
Why? Prob because Proverbs 1633
teaches us the lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision
is from the Lord. Meaning, if I roll dice, God
determines whether that die lands on A6 or A2.
Every time God determines it. And here's why this matters.
Bear with me for just a minute. In college basketball, there is
a potentially generational talent that is entering the NBA
this year. A young man by the name of
Cooper Flagg. Everybody knew that he would be
the number one pick. Everybody.
The question was because it's a lottery system.
The way it works is a lottery. The other places, it's like the
worst record, but it's that's not the case in the NBA.
It's a lottery system. The Dallas Mavericks, who were
by no means the worst team, ended up getting him.
Do you know what their odds were of getting him 1.8%?
They had a 1.8% chance of getting him and they got him.
Now this of course led to many people calling the system
rigged. The, the, the, I mean, theories
are about it. People have even asked like the
commissioner, is it rigged? I think sometimes we can
subconsciously think this way with God, God, it's rigged.
It's not fair the fact that I am not as intelligent as this
person, or as good looking as this person, or as rich as this
person, or as successful as this person, or as talented as this
person. It just feels rigged.
God, it doesn't feel fair. Ever felt that way?
Like a God had just given you more intelligence, got to give
you better looks, got to make you taller, got to make you more
talented, got to giving you this and giving you that, giving you
that. Like it would be different, but
God, it's not fair. You rigged it.
Sometimes people will give a cliche answer to this and
they'll say, well, hey, you just have to accept how these are.
You just have to accept it. Brother, sister, the goal in
life is not to accept God's lot. The goal is to delight in it.
The goal is Psalm 16, five to six.
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup.
You hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in
pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful
inheritance. That is the goal.
I used to wrestle. I know this about you because I
wrestled for years. I still do to some degree.
I used to wrestle for years with this thought, Why wasn't I fill
in the blank? Just fill in the blank.
Why wasn't I? I used to like.
Why was I better looking? God?
My life would be so much easier if you just made me better
looking. What?
What fill in you fill in the blank.
Why wasn't I? I.
I used to wrestle without you until I realized.
Until it finally clicked in my soul.
I inherit God. I can't.
Jesus, I don't have to wish for fill in the blank.
I get God. I have a beautiful inheritance.
That's the goal, brother and sister.
Look at verse 57 to 59 and 62 This was the list of the Levites
according to their clans of Gershon, the clan of the
Gershonites of Kohath, the clan of the Kohathites of Moriari,
the clan of the Mariites the These are the clans of Levi, the
clans of the Lib Knights, the clan of the Hebronites, the clan
of the Hebronites, the clan of the Mahlites, the clan of the
Mushites, the clan of the Korahites and Kohath was the
father of Amran. The name of Amran's wife was
Tokoebe, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt,
and she was born to Imran, Aaron and Moses and Miriam, their
sister. And then down in verse 62.
And those listed were 23,000, every male from a month old and
upward. For they were not listed among
the people of Israel because there was no inheritance given
to them among the people of Israel.
Now, just as a reminder, the Levites were not counted in the
census for two reasons. Number one, they didn't go to
war and #2 they don't get a land inheritance.
When they divide up the land, they get no land.
Their inheritance was the Lord God said in Numbers 1820.
You shall have no inheritance in the land, neither shall you have
any portion among them. I am your portion and your
inheritance among the people of Israel.
The narrator highlights to us that Jacola, Beb and Imran had
three children, Aaron, Moses and Miriam, I think testifying that
they are Levites. The total number of Levites from
a month old and older was 23,000 and but earlier 22.
That's a 5% increase in chapter 1.
So the Levites have increased. And look at verses 60 to 61.
To Aaron were born Nab Abihu, Eliezer and Ithmar, but Nadab
and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized fire before the
Lord. So all the Levites will descend
from Levi, but the priest will descend from Aaron, who is also
a Levite. Aaron, if you remember, had four
sons, not 24, but only two are currently living, Eliezer and
Ithmar. What happened to the other two?
God put them to death. If you remember the story in
Leviticus 10, Nedab and Abiahu offered unauthorized fire, and
fire came out and consumed them. God reminds them that even being
a priest and a Levite was no immunity from the judgement of
God. And then look at verse.
These were those listed by Moses and Eleazar the priest who
listed the people of Israel on the plains of Moab, by the
Jordan at Jericho. But among these there was not
one of those listed by Moses and Aaron the priest who had listed
the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai, for the
Lord had said of them, they shall die in the wilderness.
Not one of them was left except Caleb the son of Gefuna and
Joshua the son of noon. The narrator says that the total
number of visualize with 20 years and older, but look what
he says in verse 64. Not one of them was those who
were listed in the first. So again, that's what I
mentioned earlier, all 601,000 of these men over days of 20,
they're all different men. None of them are the same as
chapter 1 except for two, and I guess three if you count Moses.
But Moses is not going to the promised land.
Caleb and Joshua. Here's why that matters.
God's promises are a double edged sword, are they not?
You see, God promised Abram that they would be a mighty nation.
Their descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky
and the sand on the seashore. And God kept that promise.
And the reason we know He kept it is because despite 40 years
of rebellion, they still have 600,000 men over the age of 20.
But those 600,000 are all different.
Say to why? Why are they all different?
Because God also made a promise back in Numbers 14 where he said
none of you, none of you except 2 over the age of 20 are going
to go into the promised land. You see, God's promises are
double edged sword. He keeps his promises a
blessing. He also keeps his promises of
judgment. How do we know that God won't
change his mind? You ever wonder this?
Like what if God just kind of says, you know what, come on in
all of you. How do we know that God will not
change his mind at the final judgement and just let everybody
in? Because he didn't let any of
these people in. None of them except 2.
God keeps his promises. I want to close with this idea.
Despite Israel's past, God provided them with a new dawn.
There is a whole new generation, these 600,000 men.
There's a whole new generation that God has raised up and
faithful, faithfully persevered. It is the opportunity for a
brand new beginning. The past 40 years of grumbling
and complaining and idolatry and immorality and disobedience does
not need to be the story of the next 40 years.
It doesn't have to be. And brothers and sisters, the
same is true for you and me. Despite our past sin, God
provides us a new dawn. If you fall into a season where
you become distant from God, and all of us do, nobody goes
through their life without being distant from God.
And if you're like, if you think, I don't think I've ever
had a season, maybe your whole life has been distant from God.
Everybody goes through a season where they're distant from God.
If you fall into a season where you become distant from God, or
maybe you fall into a pattern of sin, hear me.
God is not finished with you. He's not finished with you.
Despite your past sin, God provides a new dawn.
Let's pray.